Artist Profile: Greg Shaddix

By Ellen Samsell Salas

Some know Greg Shaddix as the host of the Mockingbird Podcast and the Mockingbird Radio Hour, featuring interviews and videos of local singers and songwriters. More recently, music lovers know Shaddix as the producer, director, cameraman, and audio technician of his YouTube channel, “Searching for Metaphors,” which showcases artists’ work in shorter, “bite-sized” bits.

Locals also know Shaddix as the host of Open Mic Tuesdays and Extended Mic Wednesdays at MadLife Stage & Studios in Woodstock and producer/host of Music at Menagerie on Main in Canton. Still others enjoy this Jack-of-many-trades as one half of the Cosmic Cowboys singing duo.

To writers and performers of music and their fans, Shaddix is a fellow singer/songwriter who thrives on sharing the songs of others. The Alabama native credits his Southern roots for both his love of songs and the people who create them, as well as his passion for plowing pathways for up-and-coming artists.

“It’s a southern thing,” he said. “Passing down stories through music.”

Growing up in a home filled with “old country and old gospel music,” Shaddix learned the beauty of telling stories and allowing songs to evoke emotions and carry listeners to other times and places. Shaddix’s father, a Southern Baptist preacher, showed him the joy of listening to other people’s stories and of taking care of the people around him.

Temperamentally suited to take risks, when only 11 years old, Shaddix decided to try writing music and playing the guitar. Initially, writing songs was his outlet for telling stories. Now, he lets his interviews, which he terms “just conversations between two people,” and his videos reveal the tales of other artists and the genesis of their music.

“I find the most joy in promoting other people’s music,” he said. “I do it for them. Whatever money we take in, I use 100%, so that I can do all the other things I do to promote. If I had to choose between performing and promoting others, it’s not even a question. I would keep spreading the word on all these incredibly talented people I get to know.”

Shaddix thrives on working 15 hours a day — seven days a week and saying yes to whatever promotes the vibrant local artist community.

“If I could turn creating a pathway for people to hear amazing songwriters into my livelihood, 100%, I would do it. That would be a beautiful thing,” said Shaddix.

YouTube: searchingformetaphors
Instagram: searchingformetaphors
Facebook: themockingbirdpodcast